Page:Ten Years Later.djvu/245

Rh "Then," she continued, "I have reasoned myself into the belief that Heaven had called me into existence with that object, I, the daughter of a powerful monarch; that since my father had been deprived of life, Heaven could well smite my pride. I have suffered greatly; I have been the cause too, of my mother suffering much; but I have sworn that if Providence had ever placed me in a position of independence, even were it that of a workwoman of the lower classes, who gains her bread by her labor, I would never suffer humiliation again. That day has now arrived; I have been restored to the fortune due to my rank and to my birth; I have even ascended again the steps of a throne, and I thought that, in allying myself with a French prince, I should find in him a relation, a friend, an equal; but I perceive I have found only a master, and I rebel. My mother shall know nothing of it; you whom I respect, whom I — love — " The king started; never had any voice so gratified his ear.

"You, sire, who know all, since you have come here, you will, perhaps, understand me. If you had not come, I should have gone to you. I wish for permission to pass freely. I leave it to your delicacy of feeling to exculpate and to protect me."

"My dear sister," murmured the king, overpowered by this bold attack, "have you reflected upon the enormous difficulty of the project you have conceived?"

"Sire, I do not reflect, I feel. Attacked, I instinctively repel the attack, nothing more."

"Come, tell me what have they done to you?" said the king.

The princess, it will have been seen, by this peculiarly feminine maneuver, had escaped every reproach, and advanced on her side a far more serious one; from an accused she became the accuser. It is an infallible sign of guilt; but notwithstanding that, all women, even the least clever of the sex, invariably know how to derive some means of attaining success. The king had forgotten that he had paid her a visit in order to say to her, "What have you done to my brother?" and that he was reduced to saying to her, "What have they done to you?"

"What have they done to me?" replied madame, "one must be a woman to understand it, sire — they have made me weep;" and with one of her fingers, whose slenderness and perfect whiteness were unequaled, she pointed to her brilliant eyes swimming in tears, and again began to weep.